Bakery deal costs IAWS lot of dough

The Dublin firm buys the US cookie king for double its 2002 price - but has no regrets, writes Ciaran Hancock

ON June 20, California-based Otis Spunkmeyer, one of America’s biggest producers of cookies and muffins, announced plans for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise $290m (€230m). Thousand of miles away in Dublin’s Thomas Street, IAWS chief executive Owen Killian immediately began hatching plans to buy the company. “Once they announced their intention to IPO we were all over it like a rash,” Killian said.

Within a month, Killian had made a “conditional” offer and the two sides shook on a deal at a meeting in South Carolina on August 22. It was formally wrapped up in Chicago last Saturday with IAWS agreeing to pay $561m upfront and a further $25m if certain sales targets are met over the next few years.

IAWS and Otis Spunkmeyer were no strangers to each other. The Irish food group looked at buying its American counterpart in 2002 but passed up on the opportunity.